Last Sat. was chilly and rainy so we headed to the nearby state park to try to have a little picnic and take a walk. We got rained out on the walk, but still had fun. :) If you follow the paved sidewalk, you enter the sandy beach area through a concrete block tunnel. It's horrible -- the wind through the tunnel blows sand at you and it stings wherever it hits your bare skin! not a people-friendly design. :p However, if you walk the grassy hill that's off to the side of the tunnel, it's more like this:

I just discovered (ie, opened) this topic. He was on my porch about 10 days ago. But I'll share him anyway. I got home from work and he was patient enough to allow me to run in for the camera, and to photograph a few times. Haven't seen him since!

That time of year again, always a few goldfinches taking advantage of the fading coneflowers.

Up till this year when I am seeing very few butterflies of any kind, Painted Ladies were abundant in my yard. Only saw one this year and she is well faded and bedraggled. A pic from last year, this is the underside of a Painted Lady.